Ad eandem. English translation. Back to Latin text. Open Latin text in new window.

Introduction. This group of three elegies celebrate the Roman singer Leonora Baroni. When Milton visited Rome in 1639 she and her mother, Adriana Basile, were at the height of their popularity. Baroni attracted the attention and praise of aristocrats, cardinals and poets. She was eighteen years old at the time. Italian poems in praise of her person and voice were collected in a volume entitled Applausi poetici alle glorie della Signora Leonora Baroni, published in 1639 and reprinted in 1641. Milton may well have heard her sing in the Palazzo Barberini.

Though Milton's praises, like those in the Italian collection, show some signs of formulaic hyperbole, Milton was always interested in the power of music to intimate heavenly harmony to earthly mortals, as with Sabrina in A Mask and "At a Solemn Musick."

Baroni was an accomplished composer and instrumentalist as well as a singer, and she was the only woman member of the elite academy known as the Umoristi or Humorists. For more on Milton's experiences of music in Italy, see Margaret Byard, "'Adventrous Song': Milton and the Music of Rome."

The translation follows that of Walter MacKellar with a few changes based on consulting The Columbia Milton and Merritt Y. Hughes.

Leonora. Leonora d'Este, Torquato Tasso's senior by about ten years, patronised Tasso during his time in Ferrara from 1565 to 1570. His intimacy with the princess gave rise to some rumors, none of which have been substantiated by any evidence, that he went mad for love of her.

Pierian. According to Greek mythology, the Pierian spring in Macedonia was sacred to the muses.

your mother's lyre. Leonora Baroni often sang accompanied by her mother, Adriana Basile.

Dircean Pentheus. According to Euripides's drama, The Bacchae, Pentheus, King of Thebes, was driven to madness by the god Dionysus because Pentheus banned his worship. The Dirke was a river near Thebes, now called Plakiotissa.

desipuisset. 1645 has "desipuiiset", an apparent misprint for "desipuisset". Confirming this correction, 1673 prints "desipulisset" and the Errata supplies "desipuisset."